Here's the official tallies from the State. It seems Utah has a lot more to worry about than impaired drivers.

https://highwaysafety.utah.gov/2017/02/15/2016-utah-traffic-fatalities/

Although any death from drunk driving is revolting, the number of drunk Utah drivers involved in a fatality has been decreasing. What's causing the greatest amount of fatalities? Utah's 80 mph speed limit.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/21/2017 01:40PM by BYU Boner.

That "Drowsy Driving" statistic seems to be a big one. It seems almost unheard of for Mormons to stop and sleep at a motel. Anyone else make the same observation?

That money is better spent on tithing. :-)

Yes, when I was a True Believer I always put tithing 1st also.

But caffeine is so dangerous! And a sin too.

I've also noticed that, as they will only stay at someone's house because they would rather pay tithing. It seems as if the only people who bother to stay in motels on a long road trip are those who aren't actively Mormon, or nevermo.

On I-15 from Provo south, it appeared to me that one outta three drivers was texting.

They habitually speed and follow way too closely. They talk and text while driving, and they're crazy. SUV, minivan and big-pickup-truck drivers are the worst; they have no problem using off ramps as a passing lane, don't know how to merge, and drive very aggressively (esp. during bad weather).

Maybe it's all the doctrine about the CK being such a great place -- they seem to not give a rat's a$$ about endangering others and causing wrecks.

Statistics aside, I still put Massachusetts drivers as the worst in the country. Not only are they rude and aggressive, they're STUPID! Factor in old streets and roadways, many which do not meet in conventional (perpendicular) intersections, and you have a recipe for incivility and chaos. You Utahns (and other Westerners) should appreciate your wide streets and city grids. They make such a difference!

How can you spot a Boston driver? The front of their car is all scraped up. Why brake going into a rotary?

Outsiders often wonder who has the right-of-way in a rotary ("roundabout"). Answer: whoever has the crappier car!

SusieQ: (In Boston):: "A turn signal? What's a 'turn signal'?"

Yellow lights mean, hit the accelerator and get through that intersection! Red lights mean, tailgate the car in front of you so the cross traffic doesn't have a chance to proceed until you've cleared. So much gridlock!

who has the right-of-way in a rotary ? It's always the septic pumper truck.

I've been watching some of those true cop stories where we get to see real stops and real crazy nonsense on the road, including UT! They are just as doped up, drunk, and lie, lie, like,like every other state, leading me to believe these dopes are not temple recommend holders! :-)

Really? I always thought that Boston (and New York) drivers were really good. Fast and aggressive, but competent.

Now if you want to see some seriously bad driving, try the Washington, D.C. beltway.

You're right on all accounts. I'd rather drive in NYC then I would on a Utah freeway.

I agree. DC has the worst drivers on the planet....

One of our semi's has a bumper sticker that says"I drove thru Utah and survived". Enought said.

It's one thing; terrible drivers who don't know how to drive safely, use turn signals, respect other drivers, then add distracted driving, or refusing to use seat belts. Seen all of it!

That speed kills seems lost on the Utah state legislature that passes these dumb ass laws.

So LDS doesn't drink. Nor do they consume caffeine (for the most part it's still abstained from.) Then they drive sleep deprived, anxious, stressed, etc., and going 80 mph to get somewhere.

It does make one wonder if the Idaho/Utah and now Nevada legislatures have one thing in common in their pursuit of higher speeds:

Could it be for Population Control?

Going 80 mph at night in the dark on the I15 between SLC and Ogden is insanity, especially during rush hour. I did that leaving the SLC airport in February @ rush hour, as it was turning dark and the rain was falling down.

That doesn't slow down cars either, apparently, albeit the mph is 70 in the SLC corridor.

The traffic signs really got me in the pit of my stomach. Every few miles there was a lit up sign over the interstate saying there were only 27 fatalities on Utah's highways since the beginning of the year. That was on February 10th. I was like, really? They advertise how many deaths on the same interstate people die every day because of the increased speed limit? Why not remind people to slow down according to traffic and weather conditions instead?

Going slow can be hazardous to one's health as well when the rest of traffic are driving like bats out of h*ll.

DWP = Driving while perfect



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/21/2017 05:49PM by Dave the Atheist.

Fatalities will increase now that they did away with safety insoection.

I drove from SLC to Cali once (& back); that rental had a (expletive omitted) governor that wouldn't let me go as fast as I wanted ... 35 second miles anyone?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/21/2017 08:58PM by GNPE.

Recently read that Utah has an inordinately high number of single car deaths due to drivers not wearing a seat belt. Many Utahns still inexplicably refuse to accept and wear the seat belt. Remember how they got rid of the helmet law because they didn't want safety imposed upon them? Same with seat belts, apparently.

The second-highest "contributor" to death in the list the OP provided was...unrestrained occupants.
Not wearing seat belts.

I guess the holiest of ghosts doesn't warn them to put their seat belts on...and neither does common sense.

according to my late mother. When it first became law that drivers were REQUIRED to wear seat belts (and some cars were made so that they would not start unless the seat belts were fastened), Mother got the notion that this was all a Communist plot - a ploy, to get Americans accustomed to thinking and behaving the same way, just like the Russkies. Lockstep thinking - oh, the slippery slope into Communism!

That was one of her more bizarre notions, but I still remember it sometimes, as I buckle up before starting the car.

Utah drivers are nuts! One time, on my way to work, the light had turned green,I had checked both ways, and proceeded on through the intersection. Out of no where comes this moron running the red light. He missed my car by a couple of inches and when he went through, he stopped his car,realizing what he had done. Of course, he was texting when he ran the light. Our daughter was hit by a car as she was busy trying to help someone who had just gotten into an accident. The impact knocked her out of her socks and shoes and threw her clear across to the opposite side of the road! The dumbass was...you guessed it: texting! He looked up a little too late.

Even cops are guilty of this. Here's an article with videos on it. It's frightening.

http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/49893310#49893310

I saw a cop rearend someone while he was texting. I offered to b a witness, but apparently it was all caught on tape and they didn't need me. This was on a Washington State off ramp.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/17/2017 11:03PM by janis.

That was some impact! Did she suffer serious injuries?

Hope she was/is alright.

Crazy drivers anyway.

Was the driver cited for negligent driving? I thought Utah was pretty strict about stuff like that. In St. George people get pulled over for all types of infractions.

Cell phone use and not using seat belts are against the law there, are they not?

That new stretch between Draper and over the Point of the Mountain is like driving on the Autobahn. And I NEVER see anyone pulled over for speeding. If I go the speed limit, I get passed like I'm standing still. I guess all those folks are in a hurry to get to a church meeting.

They have an appointment with death.

There's a sense of invincibility about some Mormons as if the garmies are going to protect them from themselves.

Only problem with that logic is they don't.

If speed kills, why do the Germans manage to drive without as many deaths?

The fact is that speed in itself doesn't kill, bad driving kills. But cops have to check a box in their report, assigning some cause to the fatality. Speed is an easy option.

TX has 85mph roads. There are not a lot of fatalities on that road, probably because it is mostly in the middle of nowhere with patchy cell phone reception, so less texting and FB'ing while driving.

Although German drivers are far better prepped than American drivers (training is far longer, more detailed, and licenses are expensive), when two speeding cars collide on the autobahn, they tend to disintegrate and result in certain death. I've seen a couple of accidents where the cars were reduced to shards of metal and large suspension parts, like a plane crash or something.

Some places, like the UK, for instance, don't even allow you to eat or drink at the wheel, let alone text.

cludgie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Some places, like the UK, for instance, don't even
> allow you to eat or drink at the wheel, let alone
> text.

Even when stopped at a red light you can't take a sip from your bottle of water. You'll get a ticket for that in the UK.

Common sense need not apply.

Germans wouldn't have a chance driving in New Jersey. NJ gets my vote for the most aggressive drivers in the US. I'd rank the D.C. Beltway drivers second.

When I lived on Staten Island, NJ was just a hop, skip and a bridge away. My children and I would occasionally take drives there because I never considered driving around the boroughs of NYC.

The drivers are very aggressive in NJ.

It is no time to start having car trouble, let me tell you. My LDS mission purchased fleet car's transmission started slipping on one such drive on a NJ parkway. I was mortified but determined to get my family home safely.

Some of the drivers were bonkers because I was going the speed limit.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/2017 01:02PM by Amyjo.

For Amyjo: Yes, she was alright, and we think it was an absolute miracle. The driver who hit her had other passengers in the vehicle with him, plus he was texting! What had happened was that her, her sister, and our son decided to head to the gym and while driving there, they happened upon the scene of an accident that had just happened. Airbags had been deployed, smoke was coming from the car that had caused the accident, and the driver looked like he was dead. The two siblings are in the medical field, and they immediately were assessing the driver. Our other daughter got out to help them drag the driver to safety, and here comes this vehicle doing 45 or 50 mph, didn't see them until it was too late. He hit our daughter full on. It made her spin and then knocked her across the highway and she landed on her back. Our son thought she had been killed. She said she was laying there thinking she was gonna die, when she heard a voice tell her to get up and move. She raised up, and ran back across to her siblings and many bystanders. Everyone was in shock! I was babysitting at home when my other daughter called, and said what had happened and to meet them at the ER. When we got there, she was sitting upright in bed and talking with the doctors and the cops. Not a broken bone, nothing. Her wrists were a little scratched and that was it. Everyone in the family feels it was a miracle.

That sounds like a miracle to me too.

It was not her time to go. Thank God for that.

No! I love the 80mph speed limit. I drive that fast anyway.

I will admit, I am one of the fast drivers. I am usually the fastest person on the road.

But...

I do not tailgate
I do not text while driving
I am not aggressive


I have been driving for 35+ years without an accident (that was my fault). I think I may pay attention more than most.

Now, time to go get in rush hour traffic.

I'm the same way. I expect everyone to drive the speed limit at the minimum. I always do when possible.

I never eat, text, talk on the phone, apply make up or anything else while driving. When I drive, I drive. That's it. That's what anyone else behind the wheel should be doing.

If I see anyone texting while going down the freeway I avoid them like the plague. I will speed up in order to not be anywhere near them. They can be worse than a drunk. It pisses me off when I see people endangering others because they can't stay off their godamned phone for 20 minutes.

It seems almost unheard of for Mormons to stop and sleep at a motel. Anyone else make the same observation?
===========================================================
It's not just them. My ex and her sister drove 850+ miles from Memphis to northern Virginia straight through. That would be about a three day trip for me. The last time I drove 350 miles, I had to stop and walk around the car a couple times because my back was killing me.

No wonder motels are so expensive. Everybody acts so macho (regardless of gender) and drives straight through regardless of the distance. So the motels don't do any business and have to raise the rates. An average chain motel (except for Motel 6) will set you back about $90 at an Interstate exit in the middle of nowhere. But I know how to find independent ones for $40/$500

a $100 a night hotel is nothing compared to the cost of a funeral. Never mind the raise in insurance rates.

The last time I stayed at a Motel 6 it was $90.

Stamp collectors hate me because I call them fatalists.

I've driven in almost every state in the U.S. The one that stands out with the worst drivers by far is Utah. Bullies of the road, and selfish assholes was my impression.

Michigan comes in second. Almost as bad, but not quite. After that, its Arizona. They seem to have a lot of people that shouldn't be driving due to their age. I haven't driven in Florida, and wonder if they may have the same problem.

After that, I'd rate Western Washington state as #4. Lots of tourists and people on cell phones. Add to that the lack of enough road for the amount of cars. Police are fanatic about speeding a couple miles over, but if you're holding up traffic for miles, no problem.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/17/2017 09:57PM by janis.

Michigan highways are attrociously in disrepair;

Many streets near downtown Seattle are WORSE!

PERPENDICULAR INTERSECTIONS??? What are those?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/17/2017 10:45PM by GNPE.

I recently took a trip somewhere that would've been a 14 hour drive so i decided to fly to enjoy my time there more. The mormons i talked to were amazed id fly, i guess if there destination doesnt have family along the way they can crash at they wont go

If you want to entertain yourself while wasting time, search "Russian dash cam acccidents," then hit "videos." Because Russian drivers are so dangerous, and sometimes hostile, lots of people put cameras on the dash to record any event. It's a hoot!

After you've lost an hour on those, do the search again but add "motorcycle."

GNPE, above, metro Boston is notorious for streets which intersect at bizarre angles.

I watch those Russian crash videos too. In Russia you get an insurance premium break if you have dash video running at all times. So almost everyone has them. Russia is the king of real crash videos lately.

The Daily Show once did a bit about those videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad3PeM4h13w

BYB.

IMO, if you had even one drink, that is too much to be behind the wheel.

I applaud the state of Utah for strengthening the laws regarding people who drink and drive.

.

I recently went on a road trip of over 4500 miles. The state with the worst drivers? Yep, Utah, by far; gets my vote.

Drinky drivers.

If you drink, then don't drive.

Shut down your phone.

If the law has zero tolerance for drinky drivers, then the law can have zero tolerance for the texties.

If you are driving 75 mph through a blinding snow storm and people are passing you, then you must be in Utah - Jeff Foxworthy

One time I was driving a delivery truck. I was on 9th East in Provo, by the MTC / Temple. All of a sudden a missionary jay walks on his way to the Temple he ran across at full sprint. I locked up my brakes missing him by a couple inches. He was on his way to God's House, instead he almost meet God.

Another time I was driving down I15 though Orem in my Suburban. A little compact car with only the driver goes from the right lane across to the car pool lane, no signal, as he came into my lane I couldn't even see his taillights over my hood. Luckily I suspected he was going to cut into my lane, so I had slowed down pinch.

I don't mind courteous speeders, but aggressive asshole drivers should be strung up, swinging from a tree.

I think I've mentioned this before, but my experience in the Morridor seem to indicate that the Mormons don't really follow the rules, as indicated by their willingness to break the speed limit (as someone mentioned above, if you drive the speed limit, you are the slow one on the road in many places).

In regards to drowsy driving, Utah has signs up, but I don't really believe they really truly think that is a cause. Utah has to have the least number of rest stops along I-15 of any place I've ever been too (now, most of my time has been in the South, so it may be like that in the North, or other parts of the West).

If they really wanted drowsy drivers to pull over, they'd actually have SOMEPLACE FOR THEM TO PULL OVER AT!!! There are no rest stops to go to even if one is drowsy (or really needs to use the restroom badly, it's obvious men designed the highway stops in Utah).

It's one thing to tell someone to pull over if they are feeling drowsy. It's quite another to actually enable people to have somewhere to actually pull over.

If there's no place to pull over when one is drowsy in the first place, it's a little hard to pull over when one feels sleepy.

I tried it once on a trip from Arizona to Northern Utah. My reward, I got a police officer come over and give me a ticket for some odd reason on being on the side of the road with no good reason or some stupid idea like that.

With courtesy like that for following the signs...I don't dare pull over even if I'm drowsy in Utah anymore either!!!

When I was younger, the drive from Seattle to SLC (842 miles) or Provo in 1 day without resting wasn't a challenge; I'm not so sure now...

I used to drive from Salt Lake to Seattle in one day but I have no desire to do that anymore. I guess I'm just a lazy driver now.